Just like everyone else in that small, remote and beautiful village, Mohammed was living a simple, happy and peaceful life with his wife and eight children. They had their own farmlands, goats and water for themselves and life was good. That was of course until a group of strangers suddenly appeared at the village and nothing remained the same again. With time, more outsiders arrived and before too long, they were almost everywhere. New settlements were built, new jobs were created and the villagers welcomed them with open arms as they were their own people. The outsiders were smart, educated and powerful people with higher connections. As they had come with well-thought-out plans and had no intention whatsoever of leaving soon, they were here to stay permanently. While the systematic schemes worked perfectly as planned, the simple and naive villagers hadn’t even had the slightest clue about it, and by the time they had realized it, it was already too late. It was not only their farmlands, goats and water that were gone but also their freedom too and the next thing the villagers found themselves was being barricaded in a restricted place like caged animals. With time, the resentment, hatred and bitterness between the two sides grew in great deal and the fighting persisted on indefinitely. How the villagers fought with the superior enemy? What happened to their lands and water that were supposed to be a gift from the God? How Mohammed survived through the infighting? What happened to his goats, olive trees and family? And what happened to the hope, dream and future of those innocent villagers? What happened to their dignity? What happened to humanity? This is not only a work of fiction by itself, just take a look around yourself and you will find reality more closer than you can ever imagine! It’s not only Mohammed’s story anymore, it’s our story!

TIM I GURUNG is an author working on 15th book based in Hong Kong, he writes on serious global and social issues, and he only writes for his charity – ISSLCARE.